George Soros sees wealth as a means to an end, not the other way around

Among members of America’s modern plutocracy, George Soros is one of the most unusual figures that have come along in a long time. The investor with almost supernatural intuition is one of the few people who make it into the billionaire class without ever having any intention of doing so. Today, Soros is as much known for his philanthropy as he is for his investing prowess. He has given away more than $15 billion of his own personal money, making him one of the largest and most prolific philanthropists in the history of the United States. For progressives and those who align with the causes of Soros, this has made him a sort of guardian angel for millions.

But Soros did not always intend to become a titan of finance. Throughout most of his early adulthood, Soros had no intention whatsoever of going into anything related to finance or the acquisition of wealth. Instead, Soros always sought to become a professor of philosophy following his studies that he had begun years earlier in college. However, after graduating from the London School of Economics with a Master of Science in Philosophy degree, it became clear to Soros that it would be extremely difficult to find a job suitable for a man of his intellectual pedigree. After working a series of menial jobs for nearly half a decade, Soros was finally convinced to give up on attempting to find a job as a professor and more information click here.

This led him directly to apply at a Wall Street investment bank at the behest of a college friend. Applying at Singer and Friedlander, Soros was surprised to learn, just a couple days later, that he had been hired. He packed his bags and flew to New York to embark on his journey as a professional financier and George’s lacrosse camp.

It was only then, when Soros was in his late twenties, that he began to realize the power of acquiring vast sums of wealth. Soros had always been intensely interested in the philosophic underpinnings of government and how ideas could shape the ways in which countries took form. Now, Soros realized that many of the people who he was working with had far more influence on the real world than any of the highly lauded college professors that he had previously so much admired. For the first time in his life, Soros felt that a fire was igniting inside him, a fire that would guide him to become one of the most fantastically wealthy people in the United States and what George knows.

Over the course of the next 60 years, Soros eventually gained control of his own hedge fund. In the 45 years that he has managed his own firm, Soros has returned a rate of 25 percent per year, on average. This easily places him among the greatest investors, living or dead.

Today, Soros uses his wealth as a means to carry out his philanthropic ends.